1. Ohio State got the message that strength of schedule is a very important factor in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes announced Thursday that they've scheduled a home-and-home series against Notre Dame in 2022 and '23. Hopefully, other Power Five schools will follow the Buckeyes' lead in scheduling difficult out-of-conference games in the future.

Along with playing the Fighting Irish, OSU has also scheduled future nonconference series against Oklahoma (2016-17), TCU (2018-19), Oregon State (2018), Oregon (2020-21) and Texas (2022-23).

And don't think the timing of Thursday's announcement, which came two days before the Irish will play Michigan for the final time in a while, was a coincidence for Notre Dame. The Irish and Wolverines couldn't come to an agreement on continuing their series, so Notre Dame instead went to Michigan's biggest rival.

Texas coach Charlie Strong has not been shy about suspending or dismissing players who don't follow the rules. AP Photo/Eric Gay

2. New Texas coach Charlie Strong isn't messing around with discipline. Strong on Wednesday suspended offensive tackles Desmond Harrison and Kennedy Estelle from Saturday's game against BYU because of an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Texas quarterback David Ash also won't play against the Cougars because of what is believed to be another concussion. Further, the Longhorns will be without starting center Dominic Espinosa, who broke his ankle in last week's win over North Texas and might miss the rest of the season. The Longhorns' expected starting offensive line against BYU will have five career starts combined, which isn't a very good recipe since sophomore QB Tyrone Swoopes is scheduled to make his first career start.

3. If UCLA was going to meet its enormous expectations for this season, the Bruins' tailbacks had to stay healthy and their offensive line had to play better. Only one game into the season, UCLA already has issues up front, and now they've lost one of their top tailbacks to injury.

UCLA announced Wednesday that tailback Steven Manfro will miss the rest of the season after tearing an ACL in his knee Tuesday at practice. Manfro was part of UCLA's three-man rotation, along with Paul Perkins and Jordon James, and was a great receiver out of the backfield. Last season, the Bruins were so thin at tailback because of injuries that linebacker Myles Jack had to play both ways.

UCLA's offensive line also was a mess in last week's 28-20 win at Virginia, as quarterback Brett Hundley was sacked five times and the Bruins scored only one offensive touchdown.

4. You have to really feel bad for Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave, who didn't play in last week's 28-24 loss to LSU in Houston, even as junior Tanner McEvoy struggled mightily under center.

On Tuesday, Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen announced that Stave was out indefinitely because of a shoulder injury. But Andersen later backtracked and admitted Stave isn't actually physically hurt. Stave said his shoulder feels fine, but admitted he's having problems throwing the ball for unknown reasons.

It seems to be the same mental obstacle that former Major League Baseball players Steve Sax, Chuck Knoblauch, Mark Wohlers and others have faced and struggled to overcome.

"Maybe on some level," Stave told reporters in Madison, Wisconsin. "I've heard of that, too. The yips, a golfer who can't hit it straight and stuff like that. I know I can throw the ball. That's something that since I've been a kid, not even just a football, I've been good at throwing things. I could throw a baseball. Give me a volleyball, I can chuck it across a gym.

"I've just been good at throwing things since I've been young. It's not a lack of confidence. It's not a lack of preparation or anything like that. It's just a matter of getting back to feeling comfortable and feeling like the ball's coming out the way it should."

5. Do you think college football coaches are overpaid? You're wrong, according to a yet-to-be-published study by Vanderbilt professors Randall Thomas and R. Lawrence Van Horn. The Vandy professors shared their unpublished study with the New York Times this week, and they argued that multimillionaire coaches are being fairly compensated when compared to the CEOs of other corporations. You can read the study here.